Darts Checkout Chart
Every checkout from 2 to 170, computed from the board rather than copied — best route first, with the bogey numbers flagged.
Full checkout chart (2–170)
Every route is computed from the actual board rather than copied from a chart, and the test suite verifies that all of them sum exactly and finish on a double. Routes favor a good finishing double — D20 and D16 halve cleanly when you miss, which is why they beat a bull finish. The seven scores between 2 and 170 that cannot be finished in three darts (159, 162, 163, 165, 166, 168, 169) are flagged as bogey numbers; the fix is to leave yourself a different number on the previous throw.
Four scores have exactly one checkout, and they are the two smallest and the two largest
Searching every finish of three darts or fewer across all 169 scores from 2 to 170, the number of routes runs from 1,404 at 58 down to nothing at the top. Exactly 4 scores have a single route.
| Score | The only way |
|---|---|
| 2 | D1 |
| 3 | S1 D1 |
| 156 | T20 T20 D18 |
| 170 | T20 T20 BULL |
Both ends of the range are starved, for opposite reasons. Two and three are so small that almost nothing fits under them; 156 and 170 are so large that almost nothing reaches. In between there is enormous freedom — 58 has 1,404 distinct routes — which is why memorising checkouts is really memorising the top and the bottom. Two more scores, 153 and 167, have exactly two. The ceiling is 170 because the biggest single dart is 60: two trebles and the bull, and nothing else adds up.
Seven scores cannot be finished at all — and they are not all odd
The seven bogey numbers listed above are usually summarised as “the odd ones near the top”, and that shorthand is wrong. 3 of the 7 are even: 162, 166, 168. What is true is the range — every one lies between 159 and 169 — so of the 169 scores in range, 162 can be finished and 7 cannot. Leaving yourself on one of the seven is the error this chart exists to prevent, and there is no recovery — you must score again and arrive somewhere else.
The number worth knowing is 102, not 170
How far the range opens up with each dart in hand:
| Darts left | Scores you can finish | Gain |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21 | — |
| 2 | 102 | +81 |
| 3 | 162 | +60 |
The 21 one-dart finishes are exactly the 21 doubles on the board — twenty numbered doubles plus the bull, which counts as one. Nothing else can be a legal finish in a single dart, because the last dart has to land in a double, and every one of the routes in the chart above obeys that. Of the 62 scoring segments on a board — twenty numbers times three rings, plus the two bulls — only those 21 can end a leg.
The jump from 21 to 102 is where most of a leg is decided: the second dart adds 81 scores and the third only 60. Getting under 102 with two darts left is the difference between a finish and a wasted visit, which makes 102 the more useful number to carry around than the famous 170.
How to use
- Find your remaining score.
- Read the suggested route, best first.
- Aim to leave an even number you can double.
- Learn the common finishes rather than reading every time.
Frequently asked questions
What is the highest possible checkout?
170 — treble 20, treble 20, bullseye. It is the largest score that can be finished in three darts, and it has a name, the big fish, because hitting it is genuinely rare even at professional level.
What are bogey numbers?
Scores that cannot be checked out in three darts at all: 169, 168, 166, 165, 163, 162 and 159. Leaving yourself one is a wasted visit, which is why setting up the finish matters as much as scoring quickly.
Why do routes favour leaving an even number?
Because the game finishes on a double, and an even remainder can be halved into a double directly. Leaving an odd number forces a dart to correct the parity first, which costs a throw. This is the single most useful habit for a club player.
Why is 32 considered a good leave?
Because double 16 is forgiving. Miss it inside and you leave 16, which is double 8; miss that and you leave 8, then 4, then 2 — the number halves cleanly all the way down. A leave of 40 behaves similarly, which is why both are preferred over awkward numbers like 35.
Should I always take the first suggested route?
No — take the one that suits your own board. If you are confident on treble 19 and poor on treble 20, a route through 19 is better for you than a statistically superior one you cannot hit. The chart gives the optimal route, not your route.
What is the difference between straight out and double out?
Whether the final dart must land in a double. Double out is standard in serious play and is what makes finishing hard; straight out lets any dart finish and is common in casual games. Some formats also require a double to start, which is rarer now.
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